Monday, May 07, 2007

north v. south

A couple of years ago, my friend Vanessa (a.k.a. Coach) started a Burlington basketball league. We called it North v. South. Pearl Street was the divider and the team picks were purely geographical (well, they were supposed to be -- I think at least one scheming teamster feigned southiness). In any case, the league turned out to be so popular, and everyone wanted to play. Soon there was a Colchester team too. Competition was stiff and neighborhood loyalty ran high.

My sister Em, her boy Kev, and I joined the north team (we were living North of Pearl at the time, though we're all southies now). I never was much of a competitive person, so I didn't think I'd really like basketball. But once you got me and my sister under the defensive net, the Twin Towers couldn't be beat. Down on the offensive side was where Kev, Coach, and the Doctor really strutted their stuff. Our team was friendliest, of course, but tension between the sides got so intense that at one point, people started getting hurt. That's when I left the team. I haven't been back. Until now.

Soon after I left, the teams disbanded and started playing pick-up style. I heard word that the scene is much more mellow now because of it, but I wanted to check it out myself before getting back into the short shorts.

So last Tuesday, Colin and I walked down to the Locust Street basketball courts to check out the first game of the season. It was tough to tell who was winning (were they even keeping track?) or who was on which team. But it was pretty clear that everyone was breathing hard and having a good time.

So yeah, I'll definitely be there on the courts this year. Maybe I'll see you too?